A fellow practitioner made some really cool observations recently, describing why horses are such amazing therapy partners.
We never ‘use’ horses, they have choice to interact or not. Horses don’t judge, horses don’t criticize, horses do not care what you had for breakfast or what you hope to achieve. Horses are horses and not ‘its’. Horses do not place high expectation on us, all they want is our connection with them, when we show them kindness, respect and unconditional regard.
Horses live in the present, they experience sadness, joy, anger and fear, they express their emotions and then they return to grazing, they do not hold onto negativity. Oh,such simplicity of life.
Try imagining the connection of touching a horse (on mutual terms) to teach us about boundaries/ consent, what we can and can’t control in our lives. Take time to feel the softness of their hair and observe the gentleness in their eyes. Have you ever taken a moment to smell a horse – take in the warmth of a breath, or listen to the sigh of an outbreath? How does your body feel?
This is ‘why horses’……………